Ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a debilitating condition that can result in pain, trismus, and a poor quality of life. It can be caused by injury, infection, and rheumatoid disease. Current management includes gap arthroplasty, interpositional arthroplasty, and reconstruction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is increased clinical use of computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted modeling (CAM) for osseous flap reconstruction, particularly in the head and neck region. Limited information exists about methods to optimize the application of this new technology and for cases in which it may be advantageous over existing methods of osseous flap shaping. A consecutive series of osseous reconstructions planned with CAD/CAM over the past 5 years was analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The free fibula flap is the standard of care in mandibular reconstruction; however, procedural nuances continue to optimize results. More accurate and efficient osteotomies for graft insetting can be envisioned, which address the difficulty in obtaining a perfect match between the cut ends of the fibula and the mandible and the subsequent giving up of maximal bone contact. We propose a method of complementary offset osteotomies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Fibular osteotomy remains a challenging aspect of mandibular microsurgical reconstruction, dependent largely on surgeon experience, intraoperative judgment, and technical speed. Virtual surgical planning and stereolithographic modeling is a relatively new technique that can allow for reduction in the learning curve associated with neomandible contouring, enhanced levels of accuracy, and acceleration of a time-consuming intraoperative step. The authors present a video (narrated and edited from planning sessions and intraoperative use of technique to illustrate the technology) and describe their favorable results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The concept of virtual surgery uses surgical simulation rather than relying exclusively on intraoperative manual approximation of facial reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree to which surgical outcomes in free fibula mandibular reconstructions planned with virtual surgery and carried out with prefabricated surgical plate templates and cutting guides correlated to the virtual surgical plan in a series of 11 patients.
Materials And Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 11 consecutive patients (6 males and 5 females) with an average age of 50.